Iraqi Central Bank Announces It Bought 36 Metric Tons Of Gold

(Kitco News) - On Monday the Iraqi central bank announced that it bought 36 metric tons of gold, a value of 1.56 billion dollars to help stabilize the dinar against foreign currencies.

The move has been met with mixed reaction from Iraqi nationals. In a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency, economic expert Basim Jamil said the central bank should expand its gold buying process to stabilize the country’s currency.

“Iraq needs to boost its reserves to move away from economic shocks. And the quantity bought by the central bank of gold recently is a small amount compared to other countries,” he said in the interview.

However, Member of Parliament, Bahaa al-Aragji warned that the country’s economy could deteriorate because of the lack of policies and the government’s interference in the central bank.

“The World Bank called on the Iraqi government, during a meeting in Amman attended by representatives from Iraq, to reform those policies and stop government interference in the work of the Central Bank, specially borrowing money from the Bank, otherwise, Iraq will be put on the blacklist,” he said in a press release and reported by the National Iraqi News Agency.

According to media reports this was the nation’s largest gold purchase in three years. According to data compiled by the International Monetary Fund, Iraq held about 29.8 tons of gold for March. The latest announcement from the central bank would boost its gold reserves to 64.9 tons.

Although central banks continue to be net buyers of gold, the amounts have decreased over the years. In February, in its 2013 gold demand trends report, the World Gold Council said that central banks bought 368.6 tons of the yellow metal, down 32% from net purchases in 2012.